


Carthage

by CanyonsIntrovert07



Series: Pompeii [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Action, Angst and Feels, Blood and Gore, Consensual Sex, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Humanity's Strongest, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Original Character(s), POV Original Female Character, Porn With Plot, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Rating updated, Resolved Sexual Tension, Shameless Smut, Strong Female Characters, and because they're fighting a war man, and because torture is rough, because Yesenia likes to say fuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2020-06-25 15:24:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19748500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanyonsIntrovert07/pseuds/CanyonsIntrovert07
Summary: The Scouting Legion was depending on me getting this information so we could mount a counter attack. The people within the walls were depending on me getting this information so they could be one step closer to freedom. Even if they didn't realize the treat that loomed above them. And Levi. Levi was depending on me to be able to come back, information or no. To come home to him. I couldn't even discern when he had become home. I just hoped that I wouldn't disappoint any of them. Hoped I wouldn't have to use the capsule that pressed against the skin of my chest, singing death to the heart that thundered within. Skies help me.The continuation of Pompeii.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Casually drops this here like it hasn't been almost 2 years since I last updated Pompeii. . .You will notice the rating has gone up. If you aren't prepared for explicit content, then move along. For those of you that were as pissed as Levi for every single cock-block that happened in Pompeii, enjoy. But also be aware, the rating went up also due to language, traumatic events, torture, gore, and other generally mature themes.

It was my last night.

Mayfields had sent word that all the preparations were complete. The sight of the messenger falcon’s shadow against the setting sun had sealed my fate like a noose around my neck. All that was left was to meet her at the designated rendezvous point, put on the dress, and actually _walk-the-walk­_.

Be the whore. Get the information. Come home and forget it had ever happened.

If only I were so lucky.

There was this feeling of sick unease that was coiled low in my belly that I hadn’t been able to shake since I had first spied the bird—a kestrel, I had almost laughed—on the horizon. Something wasn’t right. What if I got to the meeting place and there was an ambush waiting? What if this entire thing had just been a way to get rid of me from the start?

Would I really be strong enough to take my own life?

I’d considered it a few times. But I never had been strong enough to pull the trigger, slip the knife into my skin, take the leap. Letting myself be killed in the heat of battle was one thing, but inflicting enough pain to end my own life? I never seemed to be strong enough to throw away the life that Jerome had used his own to save.

 _I just can’t seem to die._ _You can’t leave me, too._

I shuddered as Levi’s words came back to me. I couldn’t leave him. I couldn’t _not_ leave him. Every night I had gone to his quarters after everyone had settled in for the night and together, we’d kept the darkness at bay. We’d held each other until our skin was etched with promises we couldn’t dare say out loud.

_I’ll come back._

_I’ll keep you safe._

_I’ll still want you. . ._

It was my last night.

Tomorrow, I’d have to leave. Tonight, I’d fight the darkness with him.

I pushed into his room, unsurprised to see him still fully dressed, bent over the paperwork that covered his desk. Levi turned at the sound of the locking mechanism clicking into place and put down his pen, leaning back in his chair to watch me make my way over to him. The candle light flickered over the sharp panes of his face.

“Hey, Captain,” I murmured as I leaned my hips against his desk, smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

Levi returned my almost smile, “Hey, Captain.”

I wrinkled my nose, “Ugh, don’t do that. That just feels—”

A thin eyebrow lifted as his hands found my waist and guided me down to settle into his lap, “You don’t want to be called Captain?”

My face screwed up in thought, only slightly distracted by his hands slowly making their way up my thighs, and then down again. Up and down. Up and down. . .

“Not like this,” I finally admitted, my voice tight, “I didn’t earn it.”

Levi’s face grew serious, “Don’t let him get into your head. You deserve that title. You’re the strongest woman I know.”

I quirked an eyebrow, hiding the warmth that had spread through my chest at his words, “Even stronger than Hanji?”

Levi frowned, thinking about it.

“Oi, you aren’t supposed to actually think about it.”

Levi’s brow furrowed with concentration.

I smacked him lightly, “You can’t be serious.”

He couldn’t hide the resulting twitch of his lips. After a moment longer of his silent contemplation, Levi said, “Hanji doesn’t count.”

“Hanji doesn’t count?” I scoffed, looping my arms over his shoulders to run my nails through the short hair at the back of his neck. It was starting to grow out. I wondered how long before he would cut it again. If he would cut it again. “What a cop out.”

Levi’s own hands had found their way under my night slip, his calluses tickling over the smooth skin along the outside of my thighs, “Hanji can’t be considered human. She’s a Shitty-Four Eyes. It’d be like counting Ackerman. They don’t count.”

I stopped the lazy trail of my foot against his calf and cupped my hand over the nape of his neck to withdraw and give him a look, “So I’m just the strongest of the _normal_ women you know?”

He smirked.

I lowered my chin, “Just another human toughing it out alongside a bunch of monsters like Ackerman and Hanji?”

“Why would you want to be anything else?”

With his head tilted back, the candlelight turning the affection in his eyes a glittering silver, I couldn’t find a decent rebuttal. Not when he looked at me like I was the only thing that he could really allow himself to care about. Not after nights of him _worshiping_ my body like I wasn’t just some washed up, used up whore. Not knowing that all he wanted was to be allowed to live like a normal person, just like everyone else. 

So instead of letting our lighthearted banter continue to pull the tensions out of my limbs, I leaned down to press my lips against his. He watched me from underneath lidded eyes with that easy warmth that made my stomach flutter as his lips moved against mine. I had to let my eyes close to avoid the guilt that followed that happy little stomach flip.

He was doing it again. Looking at me the way Jerome used to. Nothing about the two men were the same. But when Levi’s eyes grew soft and the hard lines of his face gave way to gentle adoration, I couldn’t help but see Jerome’s golden eyes reflecting the same emotion. I could hardly stand it when he look at me like that.

Like he loved me.

He’d said he wanted to be able to keep this feeling only for us. Did he even know what that meant? Had Levi ever been in love? Only a truly monstrous world would have me teach him the emotion only to decimate it by slipping between another’s sheets. Perhaps we really _were_ in hell.

I pulled away from the tender press of his lips against mine to rest my forehead against his, my hands fisted in his shirt and hair. My throat was tight against the threat of tears and my brow furrowed in an effort to keep the traitorous drops from slipping down my cheeks.

_It was my last night._

“Yesenia. . .” His murmur was so quiet that I could hardly hear him, his lips brushing against mine the only indication that he’d spoken. He wouldn’t ask if I was okay. We both already knew the answer to that question and Levi wasn’t one to waste words. But there was a sense of comfort from the quiet utterance of my name. It was like he was saying _it’s okay, I’m here. You don’t have to be alone._

I inhaled long and full, and when I was confident that I could look at him without sobbing like a milk maid, I snapped my eyes open and quirked my lips in a challenge, “I’m gonna make you regret saying that, Captain.”


	2. Our Last Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of Yesenia and Levi's last night of revelry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here is the continuation of the first little taste I gave you guys. Do take note of the rating darlings~

_It was my last night._

“Yesenia. . .” His murmur was so quiet that I could hardly hear him, his lips brushing against mine the only indication that he’d spoken. He wouldn’t ask if I was okay. We both already knew the answer to that question and Levi wasn’t one to waste words. But there was a sense of comfort from the quiet utterance of my name. It was like he was saying _it’s okay, I’m here. You don’t have to be alone._

I inhaled long and full, and when I was confident that I could look at him without sobbing like a milk maid, I snapped my eyes open and quirked my lips in a challenge, “I’m gonna make you regret saying that, Captain.”

I saw only the last visages of concern before he wiped it way, replacing it with his own sly challenge, “Not going to happen, Burrell.”

The relief of seeing that concern tucked away—the allowance for me to slip past emotion and on to something I was far more comfortable with—was almost enough to make me just sink into his embrace and nuzzle into his warmth in thanks. But the glint of his bared teeth and pressure of his nails along my thighs were already beginning to stoke the heat burning low in my core. 

I leaned down to nip his nose, unescaped laughter tickling my tummy when a familiar scowl settled over his features at my reprimand, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Not going to happen.” His guttural reply coupled with his hands traveling from the outside to the inside of my thighs to tease the sensitive skin there had me suppressing the need to grind down against his hips.

I tangled a hand in his hair, pulling his head back so I could suckle the sensitive spot right beneath the corner of his jaw that always left him breathing hard, “And who am I?”

“Yesenia.” His answer was a slow puff of air as his hands reached the point where legs became hips, and then his breath hitched.

His eyes snapped up to me in shock as his hands traveled over my hips without hitting any resistance. A slow grin curling his lips was the only warning I had before his hands cupped my ass and pulled me roughly against his stomach. I made a small sound of surprise as he stood, carrying me to his bed. Levi set me gently on the edge of the mattress before lowering to his knees in front of me.

My Captain. Humanity’s Strongest. A man whose every movement whispered of power and eyes promised death to those who stood in his path. On his knees before me, licking his lips at the thought of pleasuring me. I couldn’t withhold the strangled whine the sight pulled from me.

Levi gave an answering rumble of approval.

I had to swallow down a shaking breath as his hands guided my knees apart, hooded eyes never leaving mine. He turned his head to place a soft kiss against the inside of my knee, eyes locked with mine as he murmured, “you came prepared.”

His lips scraped against the soft skin there, slightly chapped from the changing seasons. The sensation made me shiver. I could already feel the liquid heat throbbing between my legs, it wouldn’t be long before it began to slick my thighs. But that moment when he had pulled me roughly against him had been enough for me to know that Levi wasn’t even fully hard yet.

It was time to even the playing field.

I stamped down my own heated excitement to roll my head back and push my legs further apart, letting my night gown ride up to settle around my hips. Smug satisfaction warmed my chest as his eyes flicked down to eye me hungrily. “You are never nice to my underwear. I’m tired of spending all of my paychecks on new fucking underwear.” 

I tensed, a gasp stuck in my throat as his fingers traced me, grinning as he found the evidence of my arousal there.

“Damn,” Levi murmured with mock disappointment as I shivered against his teasing fingers, “I like destroying your underwear, though.”

I rocked forward only to whine as he pulled away with a smirk, “then you can buy me new ones if you like wrecking them so much, _Captain._ ”

He frowned and then it was my turn to smirk. I leaned forward, putting my elbows between my legs and dropping my chin into my palms—the stretch as my hips opened wider a small show for him. I took a moment to steady my breathing before I let out a hummed inquiry.

His eyes flashed.

I tilted my head at him, “Something bothering you, _Captain_?”

Levi positively growled.

I bared my teeth, “If you want me to call you by your name, get your ass in bed.”

He tilted his chin up in challenge but didn’t move to stand. “ I can make you scream my name without being in bed.”

An eyebrow raised in skepticism, but the reproach died on my tongue as his thumb made a tantalizing circle along the inside of my knee. My foot jumped reflexively. Levi glanced down at the traitorous appendage before settling lidded eyes on me. A sense of dread that I was going to lose this battle mixed with the giddy excitement for what would follow warred within me, my breath caught in my throat. Dread became the dominant emotion when I sat back to cross my knees and Levi bared his teeth in victory.

A strangled curse tinged bright with restrained laughter was yanked out of me as he pulled my legs forward to straddle his ribs, my hips teetering on the edge of the bed. I barely had the chance to throw out my elbows behind me to catch myself.

A tuft of silky black locks peeked out above the swell of my breasts and I huffed at the mused head of hair, “Was that really n—!”

I found myself choking on my words as he stroked his tongue down the center of me. I shivered, swallowing down a groan. There was an airy chuckle as the pressure receded before I felt the moist warmth swirling against the bundle of nerves between my thighs. Then he sucked. A strangled sound pushed its way past clenched teeth as my muscles tensed against his onslaught before going completely slack. I couldn’t keep a quiet mewl from escaping me as Levi slipped a finger, then two, between my lips.

I shuddered against his ministrations, my hips undulating of their own accord as I repeated Rowen’s words to myself sternly. _If I lose one more night of sleep because you two can’t fuck quietly, so help me, I will go in there and separate you._ I shoved a knuckle between my teeth as his fingers thrusted, hard and steady within me. She wouldn’t hesitate to make true on her words. She didn’t enjoy having a picture to go along with my nightly escapades—she avoided having _those_ mental images at all costs—but Rowen was stubborn to a fault. If she said she was going to do something, heaven help us, she would.

Levi pulled away, his breath a brief puff of warmth as he placed a quick, biting kiss against the juncture of my thigh, “Why are you biting your hand?”

“Bec-ause,” my breath hitched as he pumped his fingers within me, his pace unrelenting, “Rowen is. . . going to rip me a new one. . .”

I couldn’t finish the thought. My head flopped back onto the bed as his digits moved within me, my hands tangling in his hair and bed sheets as he moved a leg over his shoulder. His free hand stroked the soft skin along back the back of my thigh.

“Fuck Kramer,” Levi growled, “You locked the door, didn’t you?”

I let out a breathy moan and his fingers plunged in harder, deeper in response. I found myself rather incapable of saying much else. I couldn’t remember. All I could think about was his breath along my skin, the mind-blowing work of his members and the impatient clenching of my muscles against him.

I was unbelievably close. I wondered exactly what could have wound me so tightly that it would be this easy for him to push me over the edge. Perhaps it was the way he’d looked at me with a predatory gleam, like I was his to devour—my train of thought was promptly derailed as his mouth went back to work, sucking and licking at the apex of my thighs.

“Nnng, Le—” I clamped my teeth down over his name and whined when he took his mouth off me.

“Yesenia,” Levi prompted me on a harsh exhale.

“Get your ass in fucking bed,” I snarled at him, my eyes locking on his for a breath as I fought against the urge to beg him to strip and let me feel more than his fingers between my legs.

I cried out at the soft scrape of teeth along my inner thigh. If he hadn’t stopped moving his fingers, if that soft brush of teeth had been somewhere else, I would have climaxed. I whimpered, teeth bruising my bottom lip as my hips bucked against him, every muscle tight and begging for release.

“I’m so close,” I admitted on the tail end of a whine. “What, do you want me to beg?”

He raised up on his knees, the stretch of my leg hitched over his shoulder causing my back to arch off the mattress. Levi pushed forward, a hand thumbing the swell of my breast and nipple through my night slip as he growled, “You know what I want.”

In this position, I could feel his clothed erection pressed against the bottom swell of my ass and I ground down against him. It was Levi’s turn to let out a strangled sound, dark and heady and purely male, his eyes flashing with desire.

“Fucking hell. . . _Levi_ ,” I panted out with as much ire as I could muster, “Just fuck me already!”

He sat back against his heels and gave me a wicked smile before his head disappeared between my legs once more.

I couldn’t contain the cry of pleasure that ripped from me as Levi added speed and pressure and the barest hint of teeth to his ministrations as he worked me for all I was worth. Then I was clenching around him and writhing against his mouth as my climax shattered the world around me.

When I could see straight again and had caught my breath enough to prop myself up on wobbling elbows, I caught a glimpse of Levi pulling his fingers from his mouth and licking away the excess moisture from his hand, looking very pleased with himself.

I raised my lip in a weak snarl and began, “If you don’t get your ass in bed, I swear—”

He frowned at me, “Not in these clothes. I had to do training with the brats.”

My head rolled back as I breathed, “Fuck you _and_ your ridiculous standard of clean.”

He placed a knee outside of my hip to lean forward and press a heated kiss along my bruised lips. His mouth was warm and slick and I could taste myself on his tongue when he urged my lips open. I clutched his shirt in my fist in an attempt to keep him there as long as I could.

When Levi pulled away, his eyes held a mischievous gleam, “Alright, fuck me.”

I rolled my eyes, “ _Get your_ ** _fucking_** _ass in_ ** _fucking_** _bed.”_

Instead, he pulled me up to stand before him, his grip firm on my waist and wrist until I gave him a slight nod that I could stand on my own. He knelt before me again, hands slipping under my night gown and trailing over my hips, waist, rib cage, shoulders, until the fabric hit the ground with a muted thump and I was standing bare before him.

Silvery eyes roved over the exposed skin, his jaw going slack as he murmured, “God, you’re beautiful,” his hands caressing my skin like I was something downright sacred.

I raised an eyebrow, “Levi, do you believe in a god?”

“Looking at you, how could I not?”

Levi looked as startled by his admission as I felt. Dread crept into his eyes as a blush crawled up his neck—face settling into his guarded scowl. His fingers on my skin tightened briefly— _don’t run away—_ before his hands fell away and he took a slight step back. He didn’t want me to leave, but he knew with a statement like that, everything within me would be screaming to run. And Levi was willing to let me go.

It was my last night.

_Our_ last night.

_Ours_.

A breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding shuddered out of me as I made up the distance he’d allowed between us and reached up to press my lips against his, quick and gentle. I wasn’t going anywhere.

“The Order of the Walls will be so disappointed to hear that they’ve lost a prospective worshiper to the Old Religion,” I murmured as I pressed another kiss to his neck before pulling his shirt over his head. 

Levi looked as though he was going to reply, but all that escaped was a muffled groan as I slotted my lips over his and traced his length through his pants. I slid my tongue along his as I palmed him and he shuddered.

It was an incredible rush to watch my Captain fracture beneath my touch. To see all his controlled movements give way to wrecked little twitches and barely contained cries of pleasure. It threw a spike in my pulse and gave me a better buzz than any whiskey.

I let out a more subdued, feminine sound of appreciation in response to his guttural one.

His fingers tightened around my waist, the muscles along his shoulders tensing as he took my weight in his hands, but he stopped, his breathing labored and eyes bewildered as I objected with a low sound in the back of my throat. My feet hit the ground softly and I leaned forward to place a kiss along his jaw in thanks before pulling away, my eyes dark with intent. 

Levi’s eyes never left mine as I sank down before him, my hands trailing down his arms and hips before I hit my knees. He cleared his throat roughly around a hungry growl as I leaned forward to nose at the dark hair trailing from his navel down beneath the waistline of his pants. I flicked my gaze up to his through my lashes before tugging the fabric down to draw the skin above his hip bone into my mouth.

“ _Fuck,”_ Levi hissed, his fingers clutching around my biceps as he shuddered again.

I tsked and pulled away, swatting at his hands as I grinned up at him, “You had your fun—now it’s my turn.”

I rose to my feet and spun, pushing him back onto the bed. The sight of him on his back, breathless and wanting, took me back to the first time I had stood above him like this. But instead of the clenched teeth and snarl of that time, his face was unguarded. His lashes dusted flushed cheeks as he watched me appraise him. 

As I stepped forward and placed a grounding hand against his hip, gentle fingers came up to caress the inside of my wrist. I swallowed hard. Levi’s touch was so achingly gentle and utterly responsive. Almost as if he couldn’t resist touching me.

“Try to keep your hands to yourself, Levi.”

My voice was nothing more than a rasp.

Levi blinked at me before a sly smile curled his lips and then he was reaching his hands above his head and tangling them in the sheets. With his chin raised and chest open, he was completely defenseless, baring every vital point he had with confidence—so at odds with the guard he had shown me while we sparred. I would have laughed if it wasn’t for the heat that shot straight to my core at the sight of him like that. Then he caught my eye, took in the ravenous look that had overshadowed the other emotions he had pulled from me, and rolled his captured hips.

The cocky bastard. 

I pulled his pants slowly down his legs, pausing to leave a teasing lick against the underside of his length as it sprang free from its confines. There was a whispered curse and rustle of sheets as his cock twitched against the light touch. I smirked at the curse and let my hands trail down his thighs as I pulled his pants down, relishing in every revelation of toned flesh.

I hesitated when my hands were resting around his ankles, fingers tracing the tensed muscle along his calf. How stubborn was he going to be? Would he kick off his pants tonight and pull me against him roughly before having his way with me? Or would he resist the pull and try to follow my request, let me tease him as he’d teased me?

There was a steadying intake of breath before his legs relaxed and excitement thrilled through me.

I rested my chin on his knee and took in the sight of my captain, splayed out before me, chest heaving with every breath. His eyes rested on the ceiling as he fought to relax the eager strain from his frame.

That wouldn’t do.

When I reached out to take him in my hand, running a thumb over the tip, his entire body jerked with a barked curse. I smiled sweetly, stroking the length of him before replacing the steady stroking of my hand with my mouth.

Levi groaned as I took him in deeper, my tongue devouring every silken centimeter of him. The sound was like liquid fire in my veins. I hummed back to him as he shuddered and scraped softly with my teeth.

I couldn’t withhold my triumphant laughter when Levi pounced.

My world shifted as he situated me on the bed, arms bracketing my face as he nudged my legs apart with a knee. I growled in smug satisfaction as I took in his lust bleary gaze and weeping member. I bit my lip. I wanted to taste him.

A guttural snarl pulled my gaze back to his and I shuddered with carnal need. Had I voiced my desires?

Oops.

I gave him a sly grin and spread my legs, “I think I could settle for having you inside me, though.”

Levi groaned, his lips crashing against mine as he eased into me before pulling out only to plunge further in, his tongue echoing each steady thrust. I rolled my hips in tandem with his, urging him even deeper with each slow, gentle thrust.

I pulled away to grind out his name, my rasp heavy with frustration as my nails dug into the bunching muscles along his back.

I couldn’t restrain the cry of pleasure as his thumb began to circle that spot at the apex of my thighs.

Between the feel of him finally filling me and the quick rhythm of his calloused thumb against that bundle of nerves, still sensitive from his previous ministrations, I was almost there. Levi’s swallowed panting grunts and quivering muscles told me he was, too. Both of us just standing on the edge of a cliff, trying to postpone the inevitable. I pushed my back off the bed to press my chest against his and murmur his name against his neck as I positively thrashed under him.

Levi’s pace quickened, the tether on his control finally snapped.

I almost didn’t recognize my own voice through the breathless carnality that he had torn from me. By the skies, did I always sound so wrecked when I was with him?

Or was it something about tonight being our last night, our last chance to move against each other and feel the emotions clinging against our skin before someone would have to fill his place? Even if that was the reason, even if I could feel it with each rough, frenzied trust and frustrated scrape of teeth against my skin, I wouldn’t let myself think about it. Not now, not when he answered my breathless and heated cry of his name with one of his own.

“ _Yesenia,_ ” his shuddering breath slipped right under my skin and pushed me even higher. His voice was rough and carnal and every bit as wrecked as my own.

We were so fucked.

I raked my nails down his back and keened, eyelids fluttering closed in ecstasy.

“Shit,” Levi breathed, his body tensing suddenly as he prepared to pull out.

“Wait,” I answered, breathless, as I pulled his face towards mine to place a kiss on his swollen lips before resting my forehead against his. I struggled to focus lust bleary eyes on his own molten steel orbs. “Wait.”

I grabbed his hips and angled my own to take him in further, deeper.

“ _Yesen-_ ” Levi choked out in warning before his words dissolved into a strangled groan that he smothered into the pillow beside my head, his hands digging into the sheets as he fought against the pull.

I gasped as he bottomed out, hitting that one spot that always made me come apart, and stopped, panting in an effort to stay grounded. When I’d regained some sense of self, I tangled a hand into his raven locks and pulled him away from the pillow so I could see his eyes. I wanted to see his reaction when I told him.

“Don’t,” I panted, one hand still firmly on his hip to keep him in place, “Don’t pull out tonight.” I smirked, tilting my chin down to gaze up at him through my lashes. “I want to feel you come apart.”

Something in his eyes sharpened and even though the veins stood out along his neck with the effort, when he answered me, it was with his usual growl, “It would be my fucking pleasure.”

My winded laugh— _Levi had just said it would be his_ ** _pleasure_** _—_ cut off into a high, gasping moan as he added some pressure to the swirling rhythm of his thumb and rolled his hips against mine. 

Rowen was definitely going to be complaining about the noise again.

I hitched a leg over his hip, toes curling as I locked him in place. Levi’s hand on my opposite knee was the only thing that kept me from locking my ankles behind him. I whined against the small restraint until his mouth curved into a smirk and he pushed my hips open wider, thumb leaving soothing patterns against the inside of my thigh as he did so.

I cried out against the onslaught of sensations, my hips snapping forward against his. Levi let out a hissing, strangled whine before forcing out a huffed plea, “Come for me.”

When I went over the edge this time, Levi followed close behind. 


	3. String of Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion to Yesenia and Levi's last night of revelry.

A tug against my scalp jerked me from the fuzzy half-sleep state I had slipped into. I bit my lip, stifling a groan.

_Shit. I actually fell asleep._

I slowly let the shock of rousing slip out of my limbs, hoping the jolt of awareness hadn’t revealed my stolen nap to Levi. His left leg was a warm barrier between my rib cage and the frigid porcelain tub. I had my arms folded atop his knee, resting my cheek against my forearm as I drifted. Between the blessedly hot water and the warm caress of his body against mine, I hadn’t been able to fight against the sleep that had been pulling against my eyelids. A chuckle escaped me as his words of coercion become more colorful.

“Your hair is a mess,” he muttered in such a way that made it sound more like _‘Your hair drives me mad and I love it’_.

“And whose fault is that?” I returned, my voice holding a slight growl that spoke volumes about our previous _activities._

“Mmmm,” he responded, his tone full of pride.

I snorted, ignoring his protests as I pulled away from the side of the porcelain tub to lean fully into his chest. I tutted at him as he tried to insist that my hair was ‘filthy’, leaning my head back against his shoulder to grin up at him. After a few more grumbles, his arms encircled my waist, the water sloshing softly as he stretched his legs with a muted groan. I brushed my fingers along his forearm in gratitude, letting my eyes drift closed once more.

“You fell asleep, didn’t you?” His words were a purr against my cheek and my stomach twisted with warmth.

“What?” I said, sleep tugging at me. “Me? Fall asleep while my Captain cleans my hair? That doesn’t sound very likely.”

His chest rose with an exasperated breath and his shoulders sagged. In leu of a reply, his teeth captured my earlobe, the sharp pressure a silent reprimand.

“Hey!” I yelped, jerking away from him as far as his arms around my waist would allow.

“I’m not your captain anymore,” Levi murmured, resting his chin on my shoulder, “Captains are of equal rank. Titles aren’t necessary.”

I let the thought meander through the fog before replying, “Well, you’re the only one I ever called Captain, anyway. It’s not so much like a title as maybe a nickname?” A dissatisfied grunt. “A pet name?”

He pulled away to fix me with a glare, “A _pet name?_ I had to fight you so you would refer to me with a _pet name?_ ”

I winced, “Okay, point taken. It’s definitely a title.”

Levi raised an eyebrow before pulling away from me to continue the battle with my curls. I huffed at the loss of his chest against my back, shivering slightly at the rush of cold air. As he reached to retrieve an escaped curl that was brushing against the side of my nose, I snapped forward, catching a fingertip between my teeth. His frame stiffened in shock, the resulting twitch of interest brushing against my hip.

“Stop it, brat.” His voice was tinged with gravel.

I closed my lips around the digit in a smile—satisfied at the gravel that _I’d_ put in his voice—before relaxing my jaw. I flicked my tongue over the imprint of teeth in his skin as he pulled away.

“Distracted, Levi?”

“Go back to sleep,” he huffed.

“Me? Fall asleep while my captain cleans my hair? That doesn’t sound very likely.” I scoffed at him again, earning a tug against my scalp. I snorted before obediently folding my arms over the side of the tub so he could continue to work the tangles out of my hair.

My captain. Why did it fit him so perfectly? Yes, he was ‘Levi’. Calling him as such still caused a curl of warmth to unfurl in me. But, he was also ‘my captain’. There was something about the title that just _clicked._ I tilted my chin to release my right arm as I considered. I lifted my hand through the water, watching the liquid cling to my fingers before being tugged into rivulets that fell back into the tub.

“Well,” I muttered, “It’s a title, but I guess it’s _also_ a pet name? I call you my captain because I _do_ respect you. But it’s also a pet name because . . . no one else could be my captain.”

There was a puff of air at the nape of my neck proceeding a soft press of lips as Levi murmured, “You say some pretty incredible things sometimes, brat. Your hair’s clean.”

“Fucking _finally,”_ I breathed, turning to weave my hand into his damp locks, “Your turn. I’m pretty sure you’ve still got cum in your hair.”

Silver eyes glittered with mirth. “And whose fault is that?”

“Yours,” I bit back at him.

There was a flash of teeth before his hands were between our legs, fingers gliding over the outside of my hips, “But I’m still trying to get you clean.”

I gasped as his hand slipped between my thighs to trace up my center. “Shouldn’t we get the first round out of your hair before we start on the second round?”

“What do you think I was doing while you were asleep?”

Gentle hands guided my hair over my shoulder before his lips began to travel up my neck and across my jaw.

“Should-” I had to bite off a groan as he slipped a finger into me only to retract the digit as I rolled my hips forward. I sighed, agitation beginning to build within my chest as I continued a bit harshly, “Shouldn’t we get out of the bath first? Or do you _want_ to be sitting in a pool of cum?”

“Your mouth is filthy,” Levi chuckled as I slid my hand over his and pressed, trying to get a bit of friction. He grunted as my other hand pulled against his hair, his member growing hard.

“Doesn’t seem to bother you,” I replied, my voice breathless as he stroked down the center of me once more. I snarled at him as he—once again—pulled away when I tried to move against him. “Are we going to do this or not, Levi?”

“Are you trying to talk me out of having sex with you in a bathtub?” Levi asked, restrained laughter tinging his words as he brushed his teeth and tongue over my skin.

“Hell no,” I breathed before pushing back to grind my hips against his.

He rolled his hips with mine before guiding my chin back so he could capture my lips in a slow, heated kiss. “Good.”

I gave him a languid grin, “So we’re gonna have bathtub sex?”

His lips curled into a frown of disgust before he spun me, fitting an arm under my legs to pull me against him as he stood. “No. That’s filthy.”

I leaned my chin back to grant him better access as he stepped over the lip of the tub, his lips still brushing over the skin of my neck and jaw. “And that,” I said, pointing to the water that had sloshed over the edge from his quick movements, “What do you call that?”

A dark grin against my skin as he made his way back to the bed, “Pre-cleaning.”

I smothered a snort into his chest before flicking my tongue over his nipple, earning a pleased groan from deep in his chest. “And soaking your sheets through, is that just pre-cleaning, too?”

Levi’s gait paused in consideration before he turned to walk back into the adjourning lavatory. He only wobbled slightly as he plodded through the pools of water on the ground before setting me down beside a towel-draped chair.

I traced the lines of his chest, connecting a train of droplets across his skin as he roughly toweled away the moisture from my hair and skin. A smirk curled my lips as goosebumps rose up under my touch. I schooled my face into the best imitation of his impassive disinterest as I turned my nails to his skin. I was rewarded with a guttural groan that brought a flush to my cheeks. I tilted my head at him, meeting his gaze as my nails scraped over his hips.

The fire there made my toes curl.

He caught my hand before it reached dangerous territory, flipping it over to shove the towel into my palm. “Tease,” he growled, his voice full of sensuous carnality. 

“I don’t know what you’re insinuating,” I responded, my voice stiff with haughty disinterest as I raised the towel to his hair.

But then calloused thumbs were ravishing the skin of my hips and breasts while my thighs rubbed against each other, desperate for the slightest hint of pressure. I panted through my nose as I forced my knees to not give way to his ministrations. A satisfied chuckle puffed from beneath the towel, a single sliver orb speaking of retribution while he rolled my right nipple between his fingers.

I raised my lip in a silent snarl at his unspoken taunt before turning my attention back to the moisture on his skin. I snapped the towel from his head, satisfaction pooling in my core at the ruffled locks. I gasped as his nail grazed the over sensitized nub he had been giving _far_ too much attention to, a shudder pulling at my limbs as I dried off his shoulders. “You know. . . I have two of those. . . right?” I panted.

A smirk and hum so low it almost sounded like a purr.

I abandoned my mission.

I wrapped the towel around his hips, pulling him flush against me as I threatened, “Don’t make me bite you.”

There was a lazy grin on his lips, the edges tinged with a snarl, as his form shivered against me, “Don’t make me beg.”

My eyes shuttered closed as he rolled his hips against mine, my nails digging into his hips, “I think I’d like the sound of you begging, though.”

His arm traced over the curve of my ass before his fingers pressed into me. I moaned out his name, my hips snapping forward against him as my knees wobbled precariously. True to my threat, I let my head fall forward to rest against his shoulder as I sank my teeth into the skin above his collarbone. Levi let out a curse, withdrawing his hand to heft a thigh over his hip as he turned to press me against the wall.

I loved it when he cursed like that. A heated puff of obscenity on his tongue saved just for me—for the heated, frantic space between us. It only added to the slick between my thighs—against his stomach.

I welcomed the cool press of the wall against my heated skin. I looped my arms around his neck for leverage as I pulled my other leg up, my ankles linking at the small of his back. I bit my lip against the teasing caress of his cock at my entrance, his hands cradling my hips the only thing that kept me from pressing down onto his length.

“Should we wake the brats?” He growled wickedly as he just barely rocked his hips forward. I gasped at the slight stretch before he withdrew. “Or, should we go back to the bed?”

I shuddered at the thought, letting out a humming whine. The fact that he was suggesting that he would fuck me against the wall loud enough to wake the squad—that he wouldn’t care if he did. . . I almost couldn’t think past the need to have him buried within me.

But then Rowen’s warning sounded in my ear. And there wasn’t a way to lock the windows. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she broke the lock on his door to reign Hell’s fury down upon us.

I growled, the very notion of talking him away from pounding into me right here a feat of restraint. _I should get a damned metal_ , I thought crossly as I raked my nails down the back of his neck and snarled, “ _Bed. Now.”_

He didn’t move for a moment, almost seeming dissatisfied.

I cupped his jaw in my hands, capturing his lower lip between my teeth and pulling softly before releasing it and licking over the small hurt. His tongue flicked out to brush against mine and then our teeth were clicking together in our haste. I slipped a hand between our bodies to grasp his length, swiping my thumb over the tip. Levi tilted his chin, a hungry groan vibrating against my lips as his tongue searched out my mouth. I nipped at his tongue as he withdrew to take in labored breaths.

“Bed,” I repeated.

“Bed,” he confirmed, his voice a rasp as he pulled away from the wall. I was pleased to find that his steps were unsteady, an open-mouthed snicker escaping me as I licked my way up his neck.

I tightened my hold around his neck as he reached behind me to press a knee into the mattress, edging his way into the center. I relaxed as his weight settled comfortably between my legs. I pulled him up to press another kiss to his lips.

His lips curved with a mischievous smirk, the only warning before calloused fingers were fondling my left breast.

My body bucked against his, head thrown back against the pillows as I whined in pleasure, “You finally. . . found the other one!”

“I never lost it,” Levi snarked back before laving his tongue over the nub. His chest rumbled with a moan as he pulled my nipple into his mouth, teeth softly scraping.

It wasn’t until he had released the tightened bud to suck the skin above it into his heated mouth that my body flashed cold with realization. 

“No marks!” I gasped as he set about abusing the soft skin of my breast.

Levi froze.

“No marks,” I repeated, voice unsteady. “I can’t. . .”

I couldn’t finish.

When he lifted his head, his eyes were stricken. My stomach dropped as he floundered before baring his teeth against a choked sound of desperation. I cursed silently, trying to sit up so I could curl around him, bring back that shred of warmth that we’d managed to wrap ourselves in—used to hide from the reality of the morning.

I was going to have to do this with someone else. I couldn’t have his marks adorning my skin. It could be the difference between life and death. I whimpered helplessly as he buried his face in my stomach, his arms shuddering around me.

“I can’t.”

“Levi—”

“I can’t.”

His voice was a strangled mess of emotions that made my chest throb with guilt. Each admittance torn from him left another puff of warmth against my skin. I curled my arms around his shoulders, clutching onto him with all of my strength.

“I can’t—”

“It’s okay,” I cooed, my own voice rough with emotions that I hadn’t thought I would ever feel again. Emotions I didn’t dare give name to.

His breath shuddered out of him and he lifted his head enough to fix eyes hardened with resolve on me as he repeated, his voice strained and hoarse, “ _I can’t.”_

I could only stare back at him. What was I supposed to say to that? I couldn’t promise him that I would stay. Could I lie to him?

Would I?

Levi saved me from the pain of a fabricated response. He lowered his head to leave a tender kiss against my skin before pulling me on top of him and threading his fingers through my hair to guide me down into a slow kiss. I couldn’t open my eyes as he pulled away, sucking in my bottom lip to savor the taste of that fragile kiss with a broken whine.

“Then I’ll just have to have enough for both of us.”

His words jerked me into awareness, bringing the heat coiled low in my core burning hot through me once again. But the pain in his eyes matched with his locked jaw made me hesitate.

It wouldn’t be enough. He would try to let it be enough, but I knew him. Even blanketed in the dark, I could find every jagged scar. I knew how his lips would twitch when I made a snide remark. I knew his insecurities. Each offered fear gathered like precious gems.

I knew. Even without the words. I knew what this meant to him. 

Knew that it wouldn’t be enough. No number of marks that I left on his skin would be enough to reinforce the tight hold he kept on his fear. Even now, I could see the internal struggle within his guarded gaze as he tried to tell himself it would be enough. 

But just as I knew him, I knew that even though it wouldn’t be enough, he wouldn’t push for his own desires. Because, that was him. Captain Levi of the Survey Corps. Humanity’s Strongest. Always stepping back to let others move forward. Always sacrificing himself so that someone else could see another day.

I pressed my chest against his, wrapping my arms around his shoulders to hold him tight against me. His hands came up around me, caressing my ribs before settling around my waist. I floundered for a sarcastic taunt, a wry comment, anything to ground me—to loosen the fist around my heart. I let out a choked curse as I came up empty.

It wouldn’t be enough. For either of us.

I caught my bottom lip between my teeth, burring my twisted expression in to his shoulder. Levi’s hand rose to cup my jaw, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip until I released it. He murmured my name as he stroked my cheek until I relaxed enough to lean into his touch. I took a deep breath and pulled back to meet his gaze. He rewarded me with a close-lipped smile.

_It’ll be okay._

Another lie we couldn’t voice.

I huffed out a laugh. He was trying to comfort me. Still trying to protect me.

I had to give him something in return.

I turned my head to nip softly at his thumb, “Where’s your knife?”

His brow furrowed in confusion but after searching my gaze, he reached under his pillow to produce his knife, the hilt worn from use. 

“Under your pillow? Really?” I asked dryly as I took it from his hand.

A spark of humor lit his gaze, “Obviously, you never know when you’re going to need it.”

I rolled my eyes before moving over to the edge of the bed. His lips curved down in confusion as I pulled my discarded nightgown over my head and began to pad out of his room, knife in hand.

I silenced the question on his lips with a strained smile, shy in its vulnerability. I watched the floor, flicking my gaze up to his for just a moment before turning away. Levi sat up to watch me leave. He was turned toward me, arms stretched out against the sheets, every muscle tensed. But made no move to stop me.

When I slipped back into his room with his knife in one hand and my own in the other, he was still sitting where I had left him. I paused in the doorway to let my gaze rake over him. Burn the image into my mind. The oil was smoldering low in his lamp, casting a muted glow over his features, highlighting the lean lines and contours of his muscles. Aside from a thin sheet covering his lap, he was free of his stiff formalities and uniforms. His raven locks were sex tousled, olive skin already marked by my nails and teeth.

When my gaze locked with his, he didn’t say a word. He just offered a hand.

My chest ached.

 _I don’t want to go._

I stepped forward and placed my knife in his upturned hand. Confusion still colored his features, but his fingers curled over the ivory hilt.

“Have you heard of the thread of fate?” I placed his knife on the mattress beside his knee while I turned to lock the door once more and discard my nightgown over the back of his chair.

His silence was my answer. When I turned back he was watching me carefully, his expression decidedly neutral.

“It’s a—uh—a folklore. I think. I heard some kids talking about it in training. It’s a belief about some Asian god that would tie two people together with an invisible red string around their pinkie. Or some shit like that. That red string would link them together, constantly pulling them towards each other until they met.” I paused, my voice wavering slightly, “It was fate.”

Levi’s mouth opened once before he looked down at my knife still gripped in his hand. His mouth closed. He looked up at me again. “I’m not Asian.”

I’d lost him.

I snorted, “No shit, Levi. I’m not really one for beliefs, but. . . how about we make our own string of fate?”

Not waiting for a response, I unsheathed his knife and held the blade to my little finger. I hesitated for just a moment, the ludicrous thought of, _this is almost like a wedding band, isn’t it?_ flashing through my mind. Then I pressed the blade into my skin, carving a careful circle into the base of my finger.

“Shit,” I hissed in pain and frustration as I struggled to connect the circle, the awkward angle and blood causing my predetermined path to blur.

Steady hands pulled the blade from my trembling grasp. I looked up to find Levi just a breadth away. His knee dug into my thigh as he edged closer, silver eyes flicking up to mine as he brought my hand up to lick away the blood trickling from the wound. When I didn’t pull away, he angled my hand to deftly finish the circlet of open flesh, the blade at home in his hands.

Levi pulled me from the bed, not meeting my eyes as he led me to a wash basin that sat atop a small dresser. “You should have explained what you were going to do before making a mess.” He guided my hand into the water before turning away.

Levi never once met my gaze. I stopped trying to catch his.

He was avoiding me. I fixed my eyes on the slow trickle of blood from my hand as it slowly turned the water murky. I grunted noncommittally, biting my lip.

_Idiot._

I jumped at the tug of hands on my wrist, head whipping towards him to find bandages in his hand. Levi hesitated before allowing his silver eyes to meet green. My breath caught in my throat at the raw vulnerability there. He inhaled deeply before pausing and releasing the breath again as words failed him. He shifted the bandages to his opposite hand before reaching up to pull me in for an achingly tender kiss.

_Thank you._

One of the tears I’d been fighting back finally escaped down my cheek. I choked out a laugh as I wiped it away, “Damn. This hurts more than I thought it would.”

And it did. Letting someone in. Turning away. Leaving Levi. Sleeping with someone else. It all hurt like a knife buried deep in my gut. Each new pain like an added twist to that knife.

“ _I don’t want to go._ ”

I hadn’t meant to utter the words aloud, but the hoarse whisper escaped me as I slumped against his lean frame. His hands were steady despite his shuddering breath as he gently wrapped my pinky from base to tip. When he had finished, he pulled me into an embrace so tight the warning heat of pain began to register.

His shoulders were shaking. His teeth clenched so tightly that his each inhale and exhale hissed against my hair.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured into his neck, regret and pain and dread mixing within me. Pulling me down, down, down, until I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to feel anything else again.

But then he pulled away to place a kiss on my temple and twitch his lips up into a little grin, and warmth enveloped the pain.

“My turn.”

The velvet of his voice pulled me next to him on the bed until his left hand was sitting heavily upon mine. I stilled my quivering fingers around my hilt, worrying my lip between my teeth as I lowered the blade to his little finger.

“You missed,” Levi said quietly.

I stopped and wanted to smack myself when—despite all logic—I lifted the blade to _check_. I gave him a look.

“I didn’t miss, you perfectionist clean freak. I haven’t even touched you yet.”

He frowned slightly, like he wanted to refute the titles I’d tossed at him. But he just closed his eyes and released a breath to unfurrow his brow before his hand enveloped mine to guide the blade to his ring finger.

I froze.

“You missed,” he reaffirmed quietly.

_You missed._

The words clanged through me.

“But,” I choked out, unable to tear my gaze away from where the blade rested against his finger, ready to tie our fates together, “I’m pretty sure they’re supposed to be on the pinky fingers.”

He lifted his other hand to cup my cheek and lift my gaze to his eyes, steely with resolve. “I don’t care.” The gentle murmur didn’t match his words.

“You do realize what this means, right?”

The look in his eyes was answer enough. I took the knife away from his finger to press my palm against my temple. The weight of a curl against my brow was suddenly suffocating. I roughly pushed it back only for it to fall forward to brush against my eyelashes. I huffed in agitation.

“Does that bother you?”

“It scares the shit out of me.” The words burst out of me without any regard to the turmoil of my thoughts.

He captured the stubborn curl between two thin fingers to twirl it through another spiral of hair behind my ear. “You’re the strongest woman I know,” he repeated. “You aren’t scared. You just think you are.”

I scoffed, looking up into his steady gaze, my chest rising and falling like I was in a fight for my life, “What’s the difference?”

He lifted his hand to bring my blade back to his ring finger.

“One finger.”

_Are you sure?_

I realized the question wasn’t for him. Levi had made his decision. I wouldn’t ask again. I just gritted my teeth, stamped down on the rioting emotions that were buzzing in my chest, and pressed the knife into his skin. The first bloom of red on the blade was almost enough to make me pull away. But Levi never flinched. Never hissed at the pain. He just continued to watch me, his right hand stroking soothing patterns into the skin of my thigh.

When there was a weeping ring of red around the base of his finger to match my own, I let out a shuddering breath and finally lifted my gaze to his.

His gaze was warm and open, lips curving up into a soft smile as my gaze met his.

“Stop looking at me like that,” I whispered, my voice hoarse.

“Like what?”

“Like you love me.”

Levi looked down at our hands—marked and bloody—before replying, his eyes filled with a sad sort of humor, “Say please.”

He didn’t try to deny it. Didn’t even begin to tell me that I was wrong.

I tumbled off of the bed in a tangle of limbs and unbridled panic. I was gasping something. I didn’t even know what it was that was being forced past my lips. I was just fear and panic and the same thought over and over—I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave him. I couldn’t love him. I couldn’t accept any love he might have for me. I couldn’t forget Jerome. I couldn’t let anyone else die because of me. I couldn’t be a Captain. I couldn’t promise Levi something I didn’t have. I couldn’t do this.

_I can’t. I can’t. I can’t._

A warm chest was pressed against my back as steady arms encircled me. It was too much. Too warm. Too tight. Too much. I shoved against the arms. Pressed my hands against my chest, my neck. I had to get out. I had to get free. I couldn’t _breathe_.

“Yesenia.”

Something within me loosened at the velvet caress of my name. I stilled shaking hands against the arms around me.

“Yesenia.”

I took in a rattling, gasping breath to still the stream of sobs on my tongue. He continued to quietly murmur my name against my hair as I stilled the quiver that had taken root in my chest. When I had regained some since of self, Levi pulled away enough to circle around in front of me.

I couldn’t look at him. I stared at his shoulder.

After waiting for a moment, he loosed a heavy sigh and bushed a kiss against my temple before turning away to wash the blood from his hand. I turned from him, staggering towards the bed to curl into the sheets and press my eyes closed.

I could feel the darkness creeping in again, singing a chorus of _can’t, can’t, can’t._ I couldn’t find the strength to fight it. 

I only stirred briefly when the warmth of another body brushed against my senses accompanied by the gentle plea, “Don’t stop fighting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the smut, fluff, and heavy dose of feels! (This chapter just. . . oof.) Time to move on to plot! But not to worry, the smut will make a reappearance. . .


	4. Mutiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the shit hits the fan, royally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay, guys! This one was a bitch to write, and I honestly still hate it a lot, but figured it was high time to stop sitting on it. So. . . enjoy, I guess? Suffer with me? I'm not sure which is more appropriate, at this point.

**YESENIA’S POV**

The morning was cool, the haze of daybreak blurred by the low swirl of mist over the fresh snow—the kind made of individual crystalline art that didn’t crunch but instead _shush-_ ed under foot. Despite the stern orders to stay inside, some of the cadets lingered by the door, faces dire in the diluted light. I tried to give them an easy grin, but it felt flat, even to me. My knuckles were stiff from the time I’d spent brushing out Sugar’s coat, the cold having stolen my dexterity. My wrapped pinkie finger pulsed angrily against winter’s icy hold. I swallowed hard, beating back the barrage that came with that throbbing reminder.

Levi was a stoic presence, leaning with folded arms against a post of the paddocks. I hadn’t spoken to him all morning and he’d graciously allowed the silence. That hadn’t kept him away, though. He was like the ring of dried blood around my finger, a glaringly loud silence pulsing in the back of my mind.

“It’ll work better if you have the bit _in_ her mouth.”

I startled, gaze snapping up to find Rowen watching me with disapproval. A rhythmic tug against the bridle in my grasp redirected my attention to where Sugar was mouthing at the leather browband. I shooed her away gently, lining up the bit and tucking her ears behind the damp browband.

Rowen frowned at my non-response, shooting a glare at Levi. Her expression further soured when he ignored her.

Her hand clamped down around my forearm as I fit a boot in my stirrup and prepared to mount. I yelped out a sharp curse as she tugged me back to the ground, enveloping me in a fierce embrace.

“Last chance,” Rowen hissed, her breath tickling my ear. “We can run. They wouldn’t find us.”

She said it with so much certainty that I entertained the idea for just a moment, before returning her embrace. “They have to pay for what they’ve taken from us, Rowen. I have to _see_ them pay for it. I can’t do that if we don’t figure out who’s really been pulling the strings on this whole operation.”

There was a beat before she let out a terse breath, gave me a tight squeeze, and then let her arms drop. “Then you’ll probably be needing this,” she said, holding the girth of my saddle aloft.

I gaped at her, flicking my gaze to Sugar’s belly to confirm the absence of the essential strap. “What—When—When did you even _do_ that?”

Her eyes were tumultuous as she responded, “Last night. You didn’t even notice. Are you sure you can do this?”

I heard her real question: are you sure you aren’t just walking towards your death?

I trailed a hand over Sugar’s hip as I circled around to her right. I fastened the girth, pressing the length of leather against her ribs to Rowen’s waiting hand. The movements of securing the girth was so second-nature to us at this point, that she didn’t even glance at the buckles, trusting her hands to remember and stay true. Instead, her gaze stayed fixed on me, unrelenting.

“No,” I finally conceded, my voice hoarse. The tension from behind Rowen rolled over me in waves, but I refused to meet his gaze. I squared my shoulders, fixing my cockiest smirk on her over Sugar’s back. “But I’m gonna do my damnedest to at least take a few of the fuckers with me.”

A frown. “I could force you to stay.”

“I’m not Ellie.”

Her eyes tightened with an almost imperceptible flinch. “That doesn’t change the fact that I could.”

“Maybe,” I admitted. Rowen was a beast in hand-to-hand combat and had a good 20 centimeters on me. “But I would put up one hell of a fight.” Her frown deepened into a scowl. I circled back around to stand on Sugar’s left, fitting my foot into a stirrup as I fixed a steady gaze on her. “I’m doing this, Rowen. I’ve made up my mind.”

I lifted a boot, not sparing a second thought to the assisted mount Rowen would undoubtedly offer. I floundered for just a moment at the strength behind the interlocked hands and the solid chest against my leg, before throwing my other knee over Sugar’s back and settling in the seat. I knew who I would find at my left before I looked down, but his gaze still pulled the breath from me.

Levi had schooled his features into a stern expression of resolution, but I was still afraid that would shift at any moment—morph back into that expression of gentle adoration—along with his words and decisions.

I looked down at the reins in my hand, the leather groaning in my grip.

“Ride hard. The woods could be compromised.”

I nodded.

“Don’t draw more attention to yourself than you already do.”

Another nod.

“Move your foot.”

I sighed. “What the hell, Levi?” I complained as I begrudgingly pulled my boot from the stirrup.

The complaints caught in my throat in a muffled yelp as Levi put a boot in the recently vacated stirrup, pushing up to slip a hand around the back of my neck and pull me in for a rough kiss. There was a whoop and wolf whistle from the cabin that was hurriedly smothered. When he pulled away, his eyes burned.

“Give ‘em hell. Then come back to me.”

My breath shuddered. I shoved my heels into Sugar’s flank, bringing her around to shoot away from him.

* * *

**LEVI’S POV**

I climbed into the watch tower, ignoring the way Ackerman’s gaze followed me with distaste. My attention was fixed on the fading spot of chestnut carrying Yesnia further away with each passing beat.

“I’ll take next watch,” I said by means of explanation. The girl just frowned before passing the rifle and heading towards the ladder.

I fit the strap of the rifle against my chest, the length of it settling between my shoulders as I stepped forward to the wooden railing in front of me. Even with my grip tight enough to urge a soft groan from the tower, my limbs still shook as I watched her disappear into the forest without a backwards glance.

A muscle feathered along my jaw in frustration. I’d as good as sent her to another man’s bed—at best. I wouldn’t allow myself to think of any other result.

She’d fractured so damn fast. I hadn’t even told her half of the shit that had been rattling in my head, and it had been enough to push us back to the very beginning.

All of the things I’d wanted to say to her in the clearing, but had held back to soothe the fear in her eyes—

_I want to hold you at night until we fall asleep. I want to wake up next to you every morning. I want to fight your demons—know each one by name. I want to know everything that makes you laugh. I want to hear you laugh every day. I want to know what it would be like to be your family. I want to make you feel safe and beautiful and wanted every moment you’re next to me. I want to never know another moment that you aren’t next to me._

—all pulsed through me as I watched her ride away.

I snorted. _I really am a selfish bastard_. In the end, even the moment’s she’d given me—the space between us—weren’t enough. I’d wanted more, and assumed she had, too, when she’d given me a ring.

And I’d watched her break because of that need for more.

I sighed, releasing the groaning wood from my grasp as I straightened, gaze roving over the white landscape.

My body tensed with white-hot focus as another rider came into view, their figure a dark blur against the snow. The dark blue flag against the breastcollar smudged as they surged forward.

One of ours.

My eyes narrowed with suspicion. There shouldn’t have been a report for another week. I pulled the strap of the rifle over my head, fitting the cool length of metal and wood between my shoulder blades. It wasn’t my preferred weapon of choice, but when you were facing off against one of your own, sometimes an intimidation tactic was necessary. I whistled sharply at Ebony before vaulting over the edge of the watch tower, and heading out to meet the rider.

* * *

**YESENIA’S POV**

I pulled Sugar into a jostling trot as we neared the drop off point, scanning the scraggly undergrowth for the carrier. I let out a low whistle, listening closely for a response. Sugar’s ears swiveled, head jerking against the reins with a startled snort. I cooed to her softly, leaning forward over the pommel to brush a hand along her neck.

We both startled at a sharp whistle to my right, the clipped imitation of a hawk’s cry ripping through the mute of winter. Sugar loosed a shrill whiney, her neck bumping against my forehead as she threw her head in alarm. I patted her neck again as I frowned, rubbing a hand against my forehead as I sat up to search out the source of the cry.

I urged her forward with a gentle pressure along her sides, each of us stiff with apprehension as we pushed past broad cedar seedlings. I finally let out a sigh as I caught sight of a surly old man, his bushy eyebrows almost obscured by the fluffy knitted cap on his head, seated on a cart pulled by a team of two horses. He shifted the lead lines between his hands, crossing the lines as he carefully surveyed the woods. He caught sight of me just a moment after I’d laid eyes on him. The old man’s eyes narrowed as he looked over me.

I nodded in a respectful greeting before dismounting. I tied Sugar to a low-hanging branch, brushing a hand over her shoulder in a brief good-bye. I turned, taking in the team. His horses were thin, flanks drawn in and ribs exposed by the long winter draw from grazing. The axles were rusted on his wagon. There was a worn hole in his trousers.

I offered him a smile.

He glowered. “You it, then?”

I nodded. “I’m it.”

There was a sharp nod of his head, “Well, get in, then.” He was quiet as I clambered into the wagon, his gaze hungrily appraising Sugar. “Your horse?”

“Someone will pick her up.”

“She’d fetch a mighty fine price, that one.”

I nodded, unoffended. I understood how long winters tainted the way you look at things until you didn’t see identities, but their value. “She’s a beautiful little mare.”

“Small enough to pass as a regular mare.”

“Mm. But I’ll need her when I get back. She isn’t easily replaced.”

The man turned back towards his own animals, the lines of his back somber. “They never are.”

I took a moment to consider him, wonder at what would drive the old man to black market horse sales and under-the-table carrier deals with the survey corps. While it wasn’t unheard of for people to do drastic things to get enough coin to last the winter, being on the MP’s radar was usually enough to keep the common folk away. I glanced over his threadbare attire once more. It was probably just his need for money.

The jostling of the wagon filled the air, punctuated by the quiet _shhft_ of fabric as the old man glared over his shoulder at me, brown eyes calculating as he looked over me. Each new scowl was further colored with concern.

“There’s a tarp there you can use to cover up,” he finally grumbled, “Can’t be deliverin’ half-frozen cargo.”

I murmured my thanks, obediently pulling the coarse weave over my shoulders.

After another handful of minutes of silent travel, the old man sighed harshly, calling out to his team as he reined them in. He folded the leads atop one knee, turning the full force of his disgruntled glare on me. I rose an eyebrow at him as he scrutinized me, but offered nothing.

“You doin’ this on purpose?”

I gave him a wan smile. “Don’t worry, old man. I’m doing this of my own accord. No one is forcing me.”

His eyes narrowed. “Even an old man like me has to provide for his family. But I’m not in the business of sellin’ people.”

My chest warmed at his brusque concern. I stood, climbing over the division of wood to sit next to him. The old man grumbled, but scooted over to allow the sharing of his space. When I had settled next to him, I noticed with a bubbling amusement that he was shifting uncomfortably—but his gaze held firm.

“Don’t worry, Grandpa,” I murmured with a cheeky grin, “I’m not going to the underground or some whorehouse or the like.”

He grunted, satisfied, and clicked to his team, urging them on with a flick of the leads. “I don’ remember having a grandchild like you.”

I leaned onto his shoulder with a grin, “Oh, come on, Grandpa! You offered me this here tarp and seemed concerned for a second there! We’re on familiar terms now, yeah?”

He harrumph-ed in response.

“Would you prefer ‘Honored Elder’?”

His gaze whipped over to me. “You make it sound like I’ve gotta foot in the grave, girl!”

I fiddled with the frayed edge of the bandage around my finger, smile still playing at the edge of my lips. “Grandpa it is, then.”

He huffed again, but didn’t object.

“Your husband know you’re doin’ this?” his quiet question broke the silence, startling my hand away from where I’d been stroking over the layers of wrapping.

“My husband died long ago.”

He folded one lead over the other, a minute change in direction. “That looks fresh, even to my old eyes.”

“Just an injury from training.”

“The Survey Corp is cocky enough to send out brats who hurt themselves in training on solo missions?”

My eyes snapped to his, immediately on guard. “You’re too sharp for your own good, Grandpa.”

“You’re too unguarded, young’un,” he responded easily. “You just gave me enough intel to have the MPs paying my expenses for the next year.”

Fear gripped me as I cautiously pulled away from him, hand twitching for my knife.

He snorted. “You give away too much, child. Don’t you fret, I know there my loyalties lie.”

My eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”

“I don’t give out as much information as you just ‘cause someone asks.” He was still relaxed, idly crossing the lead lines. “But I know an old fogey that keep my farm up and runnin’.”

I chewed on that for a moment. “An old drinking buddy?”

He didn’t respond, but his eyes twinkled.

A relieved laugh burst out of me. I would be safe with this Grandpa if Commander Pyxis had him in his pocket. The crazy old coot was invested enough in the Survey Corps motives and drive to stay true to the cause.

I settled in against the old man’s shoulder and let my eyes slide closed.

* * *

**LEVI’S POV**

The man pulled his bay into a jittery halt as Ebony and I came up on them, spinning the lathered animal in tight circles, head swiveling to appraise me.

“Squad and rank.” I kept my voice neutral, but my chin lowered as I returned his guarded gaze.

He was old, by military standards. Hard lines between his eyebrows suggesting he spent most of his time with a stern scowl on his face. Despite that, the crow’s feet bracketing coal-dark eyes hinted at a softness that was ill-suited for our line of work.

“All due respect, Captain Levi, I do not answer to you. I am under orders to report to the squad.” With that, the man gave a curt nod, and spurred his horse on toward the cabin.

I frowned after him, shock and annoyance pulling into a taut knot behind my sternum. He knew who I was. And had spoken to me like I wasn’t worth the time spent to give me that half-assed excuse of a response. I’d known men like that, men who thought they were above such things—as assumption commonly resolved by a swift beating. Either he was one such man, or he was dedicated to his orders and would not be shaken.

‘ _I do not answer to you’_.

Who, then, did he answer to?

I hadn’t recognized his face.

Cold realization flushed through me followed by the calm of battle. He wasn’t one of ours, he couldn’t be. I spurred Ebony on after the bay, his fresh stamina and lean build eating away at the distance the man had put between us with a ferocious ravenousness. The old soldier had known to come bearing the colors and had come alone, strict instructions that were given to all of the scouts carrying correspondence. But if he was one of ours, why would he have been ordered to report to the squad and not the Captain?

They’d found Eren and Historia.

I pulled the rifle from my shoulder and fired a single round on the cabin. The bullet dug deep into the beam at the apex of the roof. Enough to alert the brats, but not cause too much concern to any residents or passerby.

The man’s head jerked over his shoulder at the resonating crack of the shot, leaning low over his horse’s neck. I was close enough now to see the sharp calculation in his eyes. He didn’t stop to fight. I would have killed him if he had. But he did pause to drop something on the ground before continuing on his push for the cabin.

I glanced down as Ebony and I shot passed—a pistol. It could be assumed that was the only weapon he’d had to defend himself. A peace offering.

Or a trap.

It didn’t matter, the brats would be ready when he came in. If he was an ally, fine. If he was an enemy, he would be dead. If the squad had learned anything from past experiences, it was that they were to give no quarter. The concept of mercy had long-since been stripped from them.

I pulled on the mane woven between my fingers and shifted my weight low on Ebony’s back. He immediately locked his legs to transition into a sliding stop with a snort, snow and frozen ground flying up in his wake. I dropped to the ground, rolling to my feet and drawing my knife in one smooth movement as I advanced on the open door of the cabin. I hesitated for just a moment with my shoulder against the outer wall of the cabin, considering the huffing bay.

I should kill it. Eliminate any means of escape.

But if he was an ally—

I clicked my tongue in frustration before I spun around the doorway to press my shoulder against the opposite wall of the hallway. When no assailant made themselves known, I prowled down the hall, footsteps measured and cat-paw quiet. I paused at each room, Captain’s quarters—clear, washroom—clear, kitchen—clear, Squad’s quarters—clear, before I found the old man standing at the dining room table. The table had been set for lunch, the air still heavy with the scents of a freshly prepared meal.

The brats had cleared out, but not attacked. That would have to do.

I lingered in the shadows, gaze flicking up the stairway to track a flash of movement—they were in the loft, then—before I scrutinized the old soldier. There was an exhausted air about his movements as he pulled his gloves from his hands, wincing slightly as he curled and extended stiff fingers. He looked over the sparse furnishings with a nostalgia that prompted me to pause, a brief moment of indecision twitching through the firm grip on my hilt. 

Does this old man have a family? Did he once? Did he have a cabin like this, or was it more like the cramped shitholes in the underground?

I banished the thoughts, gritting my teeth against any camaraderie I may have allowed myself to harbor under different circumstances. _The moment you saw the enemy as human was the moment you lost. You might as well have turned over your own knife for him to skewer you with._ It was one of the first things I ever learned.

It was a rookie mistake, one I should have known better than to give in to. One I had thought I had long since stamped out. But then, I’d been giving in to more instinctual desires lately than I cared to admit. I shoved away the thought of family before it could lead me back to Yesenia.

I stiffened, raising my knife and my guard as a floorboard creaked over our heads. The man’s gaze lifted to the ceiling, comprehension drawing harsh lines down his face. He then looked to the stairs he’d passed, eyes widening as he found me crouched and waiting there for him. My hooded eyes were dark with promise—he would die before he could confirm there was anything more than some big ass rats in the attic.

His face softened with understanding as he gave a heavy sigh and crossed his ankles to lean a hip against the pine table. “I assume we’re all here, then.”

Kramer seemingly materialized from the shadows, stepping away from the doorway and heavy drapes that had been concealing her. The soldier reflexively threw out a hand, but froze before he struck her. I straightened, by brow furrowing as I considered him while Kramer used his offered hand to shove him against the table, arm locked behind his back. The dishes and flatware clattered with the force. She didn’t waste any breath telling him she could dislocate his shoulder and break his elbow in one easy move. From the grimace on his face, he already knew.

Her eyes held a yellow glint as she fixed a stormy look on me. “Was he the only one, Captain?” Her tone held enough disdain that I knew her real question was ‘why am _I_ the one securing the enemy?’

“He came in riding under our colors,” I growled back, sheathing my knife at my back once more.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as she loosed an incredulous breath, but she made no move to release her hold on the soldier.

“So, the MP’s haven’t fully de-fanged the Survey Corps. We were beginning to wonder.” His words were slightly muffled from where his face was pressed against the table. He didn’t fight against Kramer’s hold. “Captain Cavayero, Wall Garrison 13th Reconnaissance Squadron. Retired.”

Kramer and I shared a look.

“The Wall Garrison doesn’t _do_ recon.”

He gave Kramer a coy grin over his shoulder. “We’re good at what we do.”

Her eyes flashed to me for confirmation.

I folded my arms and leaned against the far wall. Erwin spoke of the Wall’s recon troupe at times. They were a covert force kept close by the old coot and used on his missions that required the highest level of discretion. Like mutiny. It was possible. I gave Kramer a slight nod to convey as much. She still didn’t release him.

“Retired,” she repeated to him, “Retired or discharged?”

The old soldier scowled at her implication. “ _Retired_ , thank you. Eventually, you might start to see the value in settling down—starting a family, living the simple life. But I know where my loyalty lies. When the Commander calls, I answer.”

Kramer’s eyes flicked to me once more. I frowned, his story could be sound, but it could just as easily be fabricated—we needed some physical confirmation. I tapped over my heart, right over where all military issued jackets had a pocket used to carry identification or letters of communication. She glowered, jaw tensing as she reached around him, patting hands searching for something to confirm his story—dog tags, a formal military ID, a badge, a sealed letter, anything. She pulled a folded leaf of paper from the inner pocket of his jacket, tossing it to me without preamble.

I snatched it away from the path of trajectory to my face, sending her a look of warning she ignored. My eyes narrowed on her as I turned the letter over in my hands. Her eyes were rimmed in red and weighed down by at least two sleepless nights, possibly more. She likely blamed me for Yesenia’s current mission. I couldn’t fault her for that when I felt the same.

I glanced down at the fold of parchment in my hands. It held a broken Wall Garrison seal, the telltale roses covered with wispy wax lines—a hasty seal, easily tampered. My suspicions were doused as I opened the letter to find Erwin’s sharp and precise signature penned beside Pyxis’. I would never be able to mistake Erwin’s signature. Not after the many months of Eyebrow’s spartan writing classes.

“Why were you told to report to the squad?” It was the only missing piece, the only thing that still cast a shadow of suspicion on Cavayero. 

“I suppose you’ll find out when I give my report, won’t you, Captain?”

My scowl deepened. My back was against the wall, and he knew it. If he was who he claimed to be, we had to hear his report. If he had intercepted the scout sent with the original report and stolen the parchment, I could be compromising our position. But if we continued as we were, it would be considered an act of aggression by the Survey Corps towards the Wall Garrison. We had to release him and hear what he had to say.

“At ease, brats,” I ground out.

There was a moment of terse silence before soft scuffs trickled down from the loft and various other nooks and shadows in the cabin. The squad filed into the room, gazes wary and guarded.

Cavayero cleared his throat pointedly, shifting under Kramer’s hold. When I offered up no additional orders, her lips twitched in a momentary, wry smile. Just as he sighed and resigned himself to being at her mercy, she released her hold and stepped back to join the squad’s ranks.

“Damn dogs, never learned any manners,” the old soldier chided, his tone like that of a father gently scolding a wayward child. His gaze roamed over the assembled scouts, conducting a headcount. He did that twice before turning to address me. “And the other four?”

Kramer stiffened, the other cadet’s eyes steeling with resolve.

“Yeager. Ackerman. Arlet. Lenz. Fall in.” My voice was a dark threat, gaze fixed on Cavayero as I let my hand drop to my hip for quick access to my blade.

They slunk down from the second floor. Ackerman’s scarf was wrapped tightly around Eren’s head until all but a few wayward tufts of burnet hair were concealed by the red weave. The boy grumbled and tugged at the article as Ackerman fixed a murderous glare on Cavayero.

The seasoned soldier just reclaimed his gloves from the table and turned to address the room. “Good. Alright, cadets. I am Captain Cavayero, Wall Garrison. You lot have stepped in more shit than you can shovel. Lucky for you, the Wall Garrison is familiar with shoveling shit.”

I glowered at him. Standing there, lecturing my squad—treating them like they were a bunch of recruits fresh on the training grounds. His briefing method stimulated a reversion to the time they were recruits, beaten down and schooled into submission—it demanded subservience. And it was working. Around the room, my squad began to straighten into attention, arms stiff at their sides, heels together, spines ramrod straight.

All except Kramer. Defiance shown in her eyes as she refused to deviate from the ‘at ease’ command I had last given. She didn’t even look at him—the sole cadet facing me instead of Cavayero as he offered his ‘report’. I began to understand why she and Yesenia were friends as I met her steely glare.

“I was sent here under orders from Commander Erwin and Commander Pyxis to brief you on the status in Wall Sina. The Survey Corps has officially been named as criminals. Anyone with ties to the corps is being brought in, and those bastards are digging in deep. They’ve found you.” The tension in the room crested, but no one dared move. I was almost certain Braus wasn’t breathing. “Not surprising considering how much you dumbasses have been flaunting those experiments. They’re coming for you.” Cavayero fixed his gaze on Yeager who had rid himself of the scarf, before sliding to Historia.

They knew about her too, then. I cursed silently.

“We need to get you lot out of here. They will be swarming this valley within the hour.”

“We have an operative on a solo mission,” I watched him carefully, our gazes locking over my squad. There was a specific reason Erwin had instructed he brief the squad in my stead. If I was right, I’d kill Cavayero. I’d find that one-armed bastard and kill him, too. “She left before dawn. If the area has been compromised, we will need to recover her.”

His gaze didn’t waver. “We have reason to believe the agent has been compromised. Possibly working as a double agent for the MPs.”

My world devolved into a white haze. She was out there. Yesenia was out there, unarmed, in a woods crawling with MPs that would string her up for questioning if they found her. And Erwin had set this pretty little trap to either turn me into a Survey Corps traitor, or break me—make me a malleable, obedient little tool for him to use as he saw fit.

I’d be damned if I let another person I cared about die.

“On what grounds?”

Kramer’s objection was drowned out as Cavayero continued, gaze boring into mine. “Are you going to follow orders or do you plan to risk your squad for the sake of one rouge agent?”

“How are we supposed to believe she is a rogue if you won’t give us the grounds for suspicion?” Kramer’s voice cut in, insistent, cold as ice and sharp as steel.

The veteran raised an eyebrow at us both. “Is the entirety of the Survey Corps full of insubordination, or is your squad just special?”

My body went still and serene as the clarity of battle submerged my thoughts and emotions. Kramer fired off a measured counter, bristling with anger only for Cavayero to side pass. They were going to just leave Yesenia for dead. Had this been a part of Erwin’s plan from the beginning? Well, even if it wasn’t, Eyebrows wasn’t one to look a gift-horse in the mouth. If I was going to see her alive again, I had to act now.

I turned toward the hallway.

Cavayero was here—he could lead the brats to safety. Regardless of what they had planned for Yesenia, Erwin wouldn’t leave Eren and Historia out here to die or fall into the MPs hands. They were worth too much. It would be safe to leave them, they would be taken care of. I would just need a light pack, my blades and equipment, Ebony—

There was a broad chest obstructing my path. I glared up into the travel-worn face of Cavayero.

“What are you doing, Captain? Your orders were to get your squad to safety.”

“Move.”

His gaze almost went soft, pitying. He stepped forward and dropped his voice as he urged, “Let her go. Let this one go.”

I wouldn’t. Not again—never again. I wouldn’t be the one left behind again. I couldn’t.

Cavayero sighed, taking a step back to address the squad at my back, “Levi Ackerman. On grounds of insubordination, and actions unbefitting of your rank, you are hereby stripped of your Captain status and will be detained until your case can be reviewed under the discretion of your commanding officer. Cadet Yeager, restrain him.”

There was a beat of silence before cacophony ripped through the cabin. It was a muted thing in the back of my mind as I returned his coal-black gaze.

Yeager. Of course. The bastard would have Yeager restrain me. The one cadet I couldn’t kill. Damn Eyebrows was always one step ahead.

I unsheathed my knife with a calm resignation. I would kill Cavayero first. Anyone who then tried to stop me would either be incapacitated or killed, depending on how dedicated they were to stopping me.

I grabbed the collar of the nearest cadet, hurling them into another. They crashed to the ground and didn’t get up. I spun on Cavayero, swinging my knife in a practiced arc that was as natural to me as the motion Kramer used to disarm me, redirecting my momentum to slam my head against the table, wrist pinned between my shoulder blades. 

Her mouth opened—likely to give me a threat or a warning that I didn’t care to hear. Every minute I spent here was another minute Yesenia was in danger. The words died in her throat as I twisted, my shoulder dislocating with a slick pop that flushed her face with a pale-green disgust.

I wasn’t going to lose Yesenia. I was willing to lose anything else, but I would not lose her. No amount of pain—my own or others’—would stop me.

There was a sharp metallic twang—

* * *

My shoulder was throbbing angrily to the same painful drumming that echoed through my skull. The lurching gait of the beast I was on only further agitated the pulsing. I reached for my knife on instinct— _dumbass, why would they leave your knife—_ the hilt was a cool comfort against my palm. My eyes snapped open to take in the rolling landscape, spotted with towering pines and concealed under the blanket of night.

They hadn’t blindfolded me, either.

I sat up, grinding my teeth against the pain. It was night. If I was lucky, it was the same day. I had worked through a concussion before, I could fight through the vertigo and the pain. But with how much time had passed, I would have to do an infiltration now. Those things were like wild animals. They had to be approached with time, caution, and a plan. I couldn’t waste any more time. I had to go—

“Took you long enough, Captain.”

I blinked over at the only other rider with me. Kramer frowned back. She sat atop her grey gelding with an air of superiority that had always made me instantly connect her with every piece of trash nobleman I’d ever had the immense displeasure of dealing with.

“What the hell, Kramer?” My growl was rough and muted, my skull reverberating with each syllable.

She looked toward the horizon, her spine long and resolute, “We’re going to get Yesenia, what else?”


End file.
